Evan Quall
Evan Quall, first son of King Darren and Queen Rhianna Quall, was the King of Asteria from 1073 A.C. to the Present. Physical Description Evan stands at six feet tall, 160 pounds, built lean and muscular from years of practicing swordplay. He is an attractive, healthy man, with golden yellow eyes. His light, sandy brown hair is medium length and messy, though not dirty or unkempt. His travelling gear is fairly simple and unassuming, though it is kept clean and in good condition. He would often be seen amidst his people, without regal finery, instead preferring simple leathers. His leather vest is made of a reddish brown leather with buckles that are engraved with draconic runes, and his breeches and armguards are both made of a dark brown leather. When he does wear more formal attire, he wears a pure white tunic with dark blue, simple yet elegant, knotwork designs along the collar and bottom, over his leathers. Sunfang, the Pyrebrand Sunfang is a finely crafted bastard sword, originally gifted to him by Kearisk upon the beginning of his tutelage, and reforged by the will of the Radiant Dragon as the Pyrebrand in the wake of the destruction of Rivershead and the death of Kearisk. Its hilt is adorned in gold and set with five gemstones, one for each of the metallic dragonflights, and at its pommel is a bright yellow topaz, polished into a perfect sphere being gripped by a pair of golden dragon claws. The handle of the blade is wrapped with dark red leather. Birth and Early Childhood Evan Quall was born on the 15th of Hosier, during Pathos, in the year 1056 A.C. He was raised in the court from an early age, bred for his future as the heir to the throne of Asteria. As soon as he was old enough to hold a blade, he began to be taught the sword arts by his mentor and tutor, a close friend and advisor of the king, Sir Lucas Bennett. Sir Lucas taught the young Evan many things, often taking the boy out on what they called "Rambles" out into the countryside so that the boy could learn in the real world, beyond the protective walls of the keep. Evan grew to love Sir Lucas like an uncle, and idolized his teacher for his wisdom and skill. When Prince Evan was seven years old, he went with Sir Lucas and a small honor guard on another one of their rambles into the wilds for a four day trip, set to return to Rivershead on his eighth birthday. On the second night of their outing, while Sir Lucas was out hunting the night's meal, a large red dragon attacked the camp, killing Prince Evan's guards, and mortally wounding the young boy as he was lost amidst the chaos of the ambush. Evan fought with all the skill that a young boy could muster, but it was nothing against the might of a dragon. For two days, the young prince lie huddled underneath the roots of a massive tree, fading in and out of consciousness, his wounds festering untreated. By some small miracle, the men his father sent for his body found him, alive but barely. He was returned to the keep in Rivershead on his eighth birthday; but he was dying. As Evan lay dying, his father pleaded with the Radiant One to save his only son. Somehow, the King's prayer was answered. A mysterious figure with eyes of gold and a regal bearing appeared at the keep's gates requesting an audience with the king. Identifying himself as Kearisk, the figure claimed he could save the dying boy. His offer would come with a price; Evan would have to leave Rivershead to live with and be tutored by Kearisk until Evan's sixteenth birthday. Desperate, and quickly running out of time to save his son, the king agreed. For two full days, the figure disappeared into the boy's bed-chamber, with none allowed inside. To heal the boy's wounds and save his life, Kearisk, a gold dragon in service to Hosia gave Evan an incredible gift: a fragment of his own draconic soul. When the two days were ended, Kearisk and Evan emerged from the room. Evan was completely healed, with no sign whatsoever remaining of the wounds or sickness he had suffered as a result of the attack in the wilds. The only change to the young boy was his once deep cerulean-blue eyes were now a bright golden hue, not unlike the strangers. In keeping with the agreement, the king allowed Kearisk to leave the next day with the young prince, despite the council of Sir Lucas to the contrary. Adventuring Career Tutelage and odyssey For eight years, Evan lived with the gold dragon Kearisk at his home and lair in the mountains east of the city of Northgate. While there, Evan would be tutored as any proper young noble, being educated in a number of subjects including etiquette, history, and diplomacy, as well as studying magics and arcana, and being taught the teachings of the Radiant Dragon. Amidst his extensive studies he also continued his training in swordplay, honing and perfecting his skill to an artform, while learning how to channel the power of the draconic essence within him through his sword-arts. Early in his studies, Kearisk gifted Evan with Sunfang, a finely crafted blade, made of the purest steel and gold, adorned with five gems, one representing each of the metallic dragonflights. The blade would be the bond between the two and so long as the dragonsoul within Evan remained unbroken, so too would the blade remain. Evan's tutelage with Kearisk made the young prince a just, honest, and noble young man, a paragon of virtue, knightly honor, courage, and courtesy. The bond between Evan and Kearisk was powerful and immediate. The value of the gift Kearisk gave him was ever-apparent to Evan, and the two became close friends, forever connected to each other through the bond of their souls. Despite his reluctance and sadness, with the coming of his sixteenth birthday, Evan departed the home of his friend and teacher Kearisk and set out on the long road home to Rivershead. The journey home would not be quick, easy, or direct. Along the road south of Northgate, Evan heard rumors of foul occurences in a nearby mountain village and decided to investigate to see what he could do to help the people there. There he met a young elvish sorceress Sepia Windrider, whom he would travel with and quickly befriend in his efforts to return home, and a gnome by the name of Orryn Banderpick. Their first adventure together would be a sign of the road to come, as the mountain cave where the trouble was originating from collapsed beneath them, leaving them stranded on the eastern side of the Barrier Mountains. Evan parted ways with Orryn as the gnome, attempting to come up with a better method for returning to Asteria, disappeared into the sky upon a hastily constructed gnomish contraption. Evan and Sepia would not remain alone long however. As they attempted to travel north through what remained of the elvish woods of Entrieties and the Whitebark forest, they met a pair of Vistani, Reyna and Thorn who joined them on their adventures. After making their way through the Whitebark Forest and back south through Northgate, Evan was killed on an adventure in the forests north of Nelos. In his death, Sunfang began to bleed, and Kearisk who had bound his life force to that of the prince fell as well. Despite the requirements of the law that none of royal bloodline could lawfully recieve the blessings of resurrection, his friends brought Evan and Kearisk back to life. Evan trusted to the will of the Radiant One as the superior law, knowing that he would likely face the judgement of the laws of his father and country. Afterward, as the group made their way into the Danin City province, after an encounter with dopplegangers in a small town, they would encounter one more travelling companion, Greta Diamondbreaker. Much to Evan's dismay, particularly in his attempts to remain inconspiciously the crowned prince, she joined the group as Evan's sworn bodyguard. After a harrowing adventure slaying a black dragon from the dragon's very back high in the skies above Danin City, the group continued on their journey to Rivershead. In the last leg of their long journey, after encountering Reyna's father, Arzen Pike, Evan would come to learn of Kearisk's father, Abraxis, in the Goldwatch Temple and artifacts of Asteria's history, leading them to collect the Metallic Legacy. Each of them, Reyna, Thorn, Greta, and Sepia would reclaim a lost piece of the legacy, and with them the last piece of the legacy that had been long shattered, the Dragonfaith Blade, was remade in Sunfang by Abraxis himself. It was the great gold dragon's last act in life, placing his faith in Evan as he had not done since the last bearer of the Dragonfaith Blade. So was the Metallic Legacy remade, but it would not remain complete for long. In an encounter near the city of Hillsbrad, Evan and his companions were captured by a dwarven vampire who had invited them to his home, knowing that Evan was the crowned prince. Claiming to have known an ancestor of Evan's, they had no way of knowing the vampire's true intentions in his invitation. The group attempted to escape, but in the battle with the vampire, their companion, Thorn, fell. Despite the loss of a true friend and his grief, Evan pulled his friends together to return to the vampire's lair, to finish cleansing it of the evil that remained there. It was at this dark hour that they met Thosar'ith, who would travel with them from that day on. At long last, their road turned to Rivershead, the strange odyssey of Evan's return home coming to a close as he stepped through the north gate of the city. The King's Illness, and the Knights of the Throne Having discovered that his father had fallen ill, Evan hastily made way home along with his companions. Arriving in Rivershead after eight long years away, many things had changed. Upon his return to the castle, Evan saw how weak his father had become. Despite his illness however, the king insisted that a feast and celebration be held in honor of the return of the crowned prince. As the party came to a close, Evan and his companions were attacked by a force of summoned elementals. Blame was placed on Baron Alfred Remas, uncle of the throne princess, Lady Tiffany, for the attack. The cause of the King's illness was quickly discovered to be magical in origin, and was quickly lifted by the Prince and his companions. Shortly thereafter, King Darren reinstituted the ancient royal knighthood of Asteria, the Knights of the Throne, naming the Prince as its grandmaster and his companions as knights. The Knights of the Throne travelled around the provinces of Asteria during this time, serving the kingdom and trying to bring peace and security to the disparate lands. It was during these adventures that Prince Evan learned of the deep spiritual sickness that had corrupted Asteria and discovered a means to heal the damage that had been done to the spirits by their bond with the Watcher family. The Fall of Rivershead In the early months of 1073 A.C., the royal family was betrayed by Sir Lucas Bennett, thought to be a loyal retainer to the crown. When the Knights of the Throne returned to Rivershead, they discovered Sir Bennett to be a Strife Lord of Omadon. He had killed the King and most of the court in a bloody coup. His plans to assume control of Asteria failed by the Knights of the Throne. As the knights battled Sir Bennett's minions, and the gold dragon Kearisk battled Sir Bennett's draconic ally in the skies above the keep, Prince Evan confronted the Strife Lord alone. The duel was difficult, but Prince Evan came out victorious, slaying his former teacher and mentor. As Sir Bennett's last act of retribution, he called down an ancient Red Dragon, known only as the Broodmother, on the city of Rivershead. Kearisk, the dragon that had bound his life essence to the young prince stayed behind to keep the Broodmother at bay while the Knights tried to evacuate the citizens. Most were successfully evacuated, half of which travelled south to the Shieldheart Monastery with Lady Tiffany, and the other half travelling to Pallisade with the Prince and his Knights. In the following days, Prince Evan addressed the people, telling them that he was not yet their king, but they should not fear so long as their love for their country remained. Second Asterian Civil War After the Fall of Rivershead, the Knights of the Throne continued their travels, seeking to strengthen and support Asteria's people and unite them in the wake of the horrific events that had left the royal family shattered. Prince Evan layed the groundwork for how the country would change in the years to come in the dwarvish city of Hillsbrad. He supported the formation of a new Dwarvish clan known as the Forgebreakers, who had committed acts of treason against dwarvish law. Instead of allowing those dwarves to be punished by dwarven law, Prince Evan declared the right of Asterian law to supercede that of the local dwarvish clan law, and judged the dwarves for their crimes, ultimately showing mercy and sentencing them to work custody in Palisade to aid in the refugee effort. In Johnust, 1073 A.C., Prince Evan led the knights at the behest of Sepia Windrider on a quest to destroy the Lich Silthasias. During this time, House Watcher used the Prince's absence as an opportunity to make a renewed bid for control of Asteria. House Watcher saw a great deal of success in the early months of the Second Asterian Civil War. When the knights returned, they found Palisade besieged. The siege was only broken with the assistance of the Vistani, a nomadic gypsy people who had been considered outcasts across Lerias for many generations. With the siege broken, and the Vistani allied with the Asterian people, a coalition army composed of Asterians of all races formed to oppose the Watchers. By late Robier, Nelos itself was besieged and eventually taken thanks to the unifying force brought together by Prince Evan and the Knights. With the complete destruction of House Watcher, the Second Asterian Civil War was effectively ended. Post-Adventuring Career Afterwards, utilizing magics he had discovered while journeying in the south-eastern provinces, Prince Evan performed a ritual known as the Belnod Astei Rhea with the Vistani woman, Reyna, rejuvenating the mystical bond between the Asterian people and the spirits of the land that had been corrupted by House Watcher. The two were married on Mandier 16th, 1073 A.C., and were crowned King and Queen of Asteria. In the years that followed under King Evan, many sweeping changes were enacted in order to unite the country under a new national identity. His first act as king was to sign the Treaty of Friendship with the elven people, who had long been persecuted in Asteria since the horrors of the Elvish Empire. The treaty mutually apologized for the treatment suffered on both sides for generations. In Glugust 1073 A.C., the army which had conquered Nelos returned to Rivershead, and led by the Knights of the Throne, slew the Broodmother, reconquering Rivershead for Asteria. Rebuilding began in the spring of 1074. Between the years of 1073 and 1082, King Evan enacted a number of new laws and proposed a number of treaties, including but not limited to: the National Constitution of Asteria, the Freedom of Citizens Act of 1076, the National Military Act of 1078, the Naval Act of 1078, and the Alliance of Western Lerias of 1081. Queen Reyna Quall gave birth to their firstborn son and crowned prince, in 1082 A.C., naming him Thorn Quall after their beloved friend and companion who had died just prior to the Second Asterian Civil War. In the years that followed under King Evan, Asteria experienced a Golden Age, with King Evan commissioning and supporting works of art, literature, music, and architecture across Asteria, hoping to build Asteria into a well-respected world superpower. Family Evan was married to Reyna of the Vistani on Mandier 16th, 1073 A.C. Together they had a number of children, the first of which was Crowned Prince Thorn Quall. His father, King Darren, died during the Fall of Rivershead, survived by his wife (Evan's mother) Rhianna. The Gold Dragon, Kearisk, who was both father figure, tutor, mentor, and friend, also died during the Fall of Rivershead. Adventuring Companions Reyna of the Vistani Thorn of the Vistani (deceased) Thosar'ith of Fern Sepia Windrider Greta Diamondbreaker Category:Characters Category:Mark's Characters Category:Asteria Category:Swordmage Category:Hosia Category:Knights of the Throne Category:Royalty